Proactiv x MarketPryce

How a legacy skincare brand drove 2.5x ROAS by leaning into Gen Z and student-athletes

The Challenge

Proactiv needed content that actually worked.

Their polished campaigns and high-end influencer plays weren’t landing the same way with Gen Z. Especially not with young men, who usually scroll right past traditional skincare ads.

This audience wants something different. They crave content that’s real, raw, and actually relatable.

📱 75% of Gen Z prefers ads that look and feel like UGC
🤝 92% trust recommendations from peers over celebrities

Proactiv needed a fresh strategy. So they teamed up with MarketPryce.

The Strategy

Through MarketPryce, Proactiv connected with male student-athletes across the country. The goal? Get real, self-shot content that looks native to Gen Z's social feeds.

Athletes filmed themselves using Proactiv as part of their daily routines. Think post-practice skincare, late-night dorm routines, and everything in between.

Proactiv then ran these videos as whitelisted ads. They tested dozens of creatives to find the ones that resonated.

Once they found the top performers, they increased ad spend and started building recurring content partnerships with standout athletes.

The Results

The numbers said it all.

Proactiv’s athlete-generated content delivered an average 2.5x return on ad spend compared to other influencer content they had tested.

The content felt real. It was cost-effective. And it performed.

✅ No heavy production costs
✅ Authentic storytelling
✅ Scalable creative pipeline

Athlete Highlight: Sid Rajagopalan

One of the best-performing ads? A simple iPhone video from student-athlete Sid Rajagopalan.

Today, Sid is a go-to creator for Proactiv, producing monthly content that consistently drives results.

Why It Worked

✔️ Gen Z connects with real people, not polish
✔️ Athlete content felt native to their feeds
✔️ Whitelisting turned UGC into a performance engine
✔️ Data helped identify and invest in winning creators

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